"I think we're at a point now where we have to consider moving on," general manager Doug Melvin said Wednesday.

Some wondered if the Brewers might be ready to make a bid to keep Fielder when word spread that owner Mark Attanasio participated late Tuesday night in a meeting with Fielder's agent, Scott Boras. But Melvin said that session was not planned and resulted in no new developments.

Melvin said he was at dinner with Attanasio, who made his usual one-day visit to the winter meetings to check in on personnel discussions involving the Brewers. Boras placed a telephone call to Melvin, suggesting they chat.

"We didn't plan the meeting," said Melvin. "Scott just said he wanted to give us an update.

"You never really close the door on anything because you don't know what's going to happen. You can't really read anything into it."

The Brewers' position has been to wait to see how the market developed on Fielder to determine if it made any sense to participate. They have made no offers because they knew Boras would only use them to shop around to other clubs.

The Brewers can't wait forever on Fielder to make other moves, however. If he gets big offers from other clubs that blows them out of the water, it won't help to have missed out on other opportunities.

Speaking for the first time about Fielder at the meetings, Boras said interest in his client has been brisk.

"It's very clear that teams have a variety of interest in Prince, a number of teams, which makes the job very complicated," said Boras. "Some teams have different levels of interest from others. I think everyone has a plan for him that they told us.

"I'm going to be leaving here and meeting with Prince and talk about the varying opportunities for him. Then we'll sit down and begin the process of letting him tell us what directions he wants to take. He'll kind of prioritize it for me."

Asked to characterize the interest level of the Brewers, however, Boras was somewhat vague.

"They are a part of the process," he said. "I would imagine there are a whole number of teams that are making offers. I'm sure anyone that has met with us and has an interest in advancing the process with Prince will be doing that.

"From the ownership level on down, they know what Prince means to the Brewers' franchise. Certainly, they've expressed that."

Teams expected to show strong interest in Fielder include the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. The Miami Marlins insist they have no interest despite their failed bid to sign Albert Pujols.

Rollins off board

Melvin had spoken once with Dan Lozano, the agent for free-agent shortstop Jimmy Rollins, and had a second meeting in the works that Lozano canceled. That's when the Brewers knew Rollins was headed back to Philadelphia.

No deal officially was announced, but word was that Rollins and the Phillies were working on the final details of a contract. That left three everyday shortstops on the market - Rafael Furcal, Alex Gonzalez and Yuniesky Betancourt, who played last season for the Brewers.

Melvin already had talked with the agents for Furcal and Betancourt and said he would place a call to Gonzalez's representative, who was not at the meetings.

Surgery averted

Assistant general manager Gord Ash said pitching prospect Santo Manzanillo will not need surgery on the shoulder injury he suffered last week in an auto accident in the Dominican Republic. Manzanillo was examined in Milwaukee by team physician William Raasch, and it was determined the separated shoulder and fractured scapula would heal with time and therapy.

"He will go to Phoenix to do rehab for a week, then head home," said Ash.

About Tom Haudricourt

Tom Haudricourt covers the Brewers and Major League Baseball. He was voted Wisconsin Sports Writer of Year for 2011 and 2012 by National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.